Tehran has enough material to make at least 10 nuclear warheads but extracting it would be very risky, say experts
The Trump administration is reportedly considering the deployment of special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which experts say could be used to make at least 10 nuclear warheads.
Preventing Iran from acquiring a bomb is one of Trump’s stated war aims, and the 440kg HEU stockpile represents the greatest nuclear threat as it could be turned into weapons-grade uranium relatively easily. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has told Congress that “people are going to have to go and get it”.
Rubio did not go into greater detail, but there have been US and Israeli reports on discussions between the two countries on how such a mission might be carried out by special forces from either or both militaries. But nuclear experts say the complexity and risk involved would be considerable.
36 Comments
Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz · 65 pts · 146d
Something that could have been achieved through continued negotiations, resulting in far fewer lives lost and less money wasted. Assassinating Iran's leaders and threatening to invade only serves to bolster their justifications for seeking nuclear weapons in the first place.
Sunforged@lemmy.ml · 42 pts · 146d
At this point Iran having the bomb would be more stabilizing for the region than if they are prevented from it.
sepi@piefed.social · 5 pts · 146d
I predict the US will sell Iran some bombs ro bring stability back to the region. I'll bet 2 dimes and a nickel on this.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 146d
It's also something they claimed to have achieved last year when they bombed Iran.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 145d
Nothing Yahoo has been claiming functional nukes since 2012.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 145d
Netanyahu has been lying that Iran is weeks away from having functional nukes since at least 1995:
https://youtu.be/p0mEWmfbdIE
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 35 pts · 146d
Is this the nuclear stockpile that Trump destroyed last year?
tal@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 146d
That was the enrichment facility, but Iran won't have kept the output it generated prior to it being bombed there.
whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 145d
It's the stockpile that's perfectly collocated with the military positions controlling the strait of Hormuz, oil fields, refineries, and other strategic economic positions. They didn't even bother with the made up intel from UK this time.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 1 pts · 145d
The one that they wouldn't have even had if not for the pedophile ripping up the anti proliferation treaty with Iran during his first turn? With no replacement. On whim. For no legitimate reason.
Doomsider@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 146d
Not even a weapon of mass destruction but a literal pile of radioactive metal that "could" be turned into a bomb.
This is about imaginary as you could possibly get. Truly war theatre for the masses that are apparently dumb enough to believe it.
ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 145d
The American masses are getting dumber so the lies can be lazier.
Doomsider@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 145d
I have to agree here. It is like they aren't even trying anymore.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 21 pts · 145d
The nuclear stockpile that Trump said was destroyed over a year ago in a previous strike? And which probably didn't exist in the first place?
BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz · 15 pts · 146d
I voted for Trump because I was tired of Wars and now I need to vote Trump AGAIN to Stop the War that Trump started To Protect the State of Pedophiles!
-Literally EVERYONE who Votes Republican!
favoredponcho@lemmy.zip · 14 pts · 146d
EvergreenGuru@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 146d
The mountains of Iran are not for the faint of heart.
Corporal_Punishment@feddit.uk · 13 pts · 146d
Trump probably thinks Iran is a flat desert suitable for tanks, and not in fact surrounded by mountains.
MagnificentSteiner@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 146d
Right! Every time I see something like this I wonder that people don't realise the terrain around Tehran and the north-west. A ground invasion against Iran would make Afghanistan look like a picnic in comparison.
ViatorOmnium@piefed.social · 12 pts · 146d
So, let me get this straight. The US and Israel started a war, allegedly, to stop the Iranian nuclear bomb project, without any actual plan on how to remove the nuclear programme assets?
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 146d
Also, they boasted that their bombing of Iran last year had completely destroyed Iran's nuclear program. And the experts say there never even was an Iranian nuclear bomb program worth the name.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 145d
WMDs are baaack, baby!
BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 145d
Lord Farquaad don't give a shit.
mlg@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 146d
I feel like if Iran really wants nukes fast, they should just ship that uranium and some cash to NK to have it enriched to weapons grade.
Maybe exchange the missile technology for their warhead design too.
Cuz even though we already are highly aware the US is lying when they say it could be refined super easily in the middle of a war, any attempt to do so would immediately get noticed and promptly bombed.
...
Actually a funnier idea would be to place a bunch of fake inflatable enrichment cylinders in some random location in the mountains so that the US and Israel waste their muntions on a fake encirchment facility lol.
Not even to protect the real one, just to make them turn their attention away from everything else and bomb an empty mountain.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 145d
Has it been 20 years of this "Iran nukes!" business?
Let Israel "secure the nuclear stockpile", they're right there already, we don't need to buy them a boat or anything
HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 146d
Yet....yet..... there are sources in the government who have been in closed door meetings say the real reasons have nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program.
So one is the narrative they're selling, the other is the truth.
ViatorOmnium@piefed.social · 5 pts · 146d
I'm putting my money on the narrative that they clearly didn't plan for and are still trying to figure out being the fake one.
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 146d
The real narrative may have just been that Netanyahu has always wanted to destroy Iran and Trump was stupid and vain enough to be persuaded to do it for him. Since Trump can't admit a mistake, he has to double down.
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 145d
I am a little confused about all this as all of the analysts claim that this material is literally under tons of rubble. Are the special forces going to be bringing excavators and cranes?
IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.wtf · 9 pts · 145d
This is a vibe-based war, they're just going to show up and wing it.
cmbabul@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 145d
"going to" as if thats not what already has happened
crystalmerchant@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 145d
So, we all understand that the recent reporting of "weighing" and "considering" and "exploring" probably means that US boots are already on the ground inside Iran, right?
GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 145d
I expect if any US soldiers were on the ground in Iran, Iran would release a video of the prisoners
ieatpwns@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 145d
This mother fucker rebliterated the nukes just to send troops in and take them back
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 146d
Trump kids first
alphacyberranger@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 146d
"Secure"
Reiterate9120@lemmy.org · 0 pts · 146d
Hopefully every grunt from both countries that step foot in Iran never make it back out alive.